1. Field of the Invention
This invention mainly relates to a recording and/or reproducing apparatus of the kind having a record bearing medium container loaded from the front thereof, and more particularly to means for smooth loading and unloading of the container.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Known recording and/or reproducing apparatuses include a kind arranged to record information while concentrically or helically forming a recording track on a disc-shaped record bearing medium, such as a flexible magnetic recording disc, and/or to reproduce the recorded information therefrom. The disc-shaped record bearing medium is generally placed within a container called a cassette, a jacket or a pack (hereinafter will be referred to as the cassette). For loading the cassette, some of the apparatuses of the above-stated kind are arranged to have it inserted from the front thereof. This arrangement is well known and is called a front loading method. In accordance with the front loading arrangement, the cassette is generally inserted into a cassette holder and is held in position by a pressing member which is provided at the cassette holder. FIG. 5A of the accompanying drawings shows an example of the front loading arrangement. In this case, a leaf spring 101 which has a relatively large pressing force is attached to the upper inner side of a cassette holder 100. When the cassette 102 is inserted into the cassette holder 100 in the direction of arrow C, the cassette 102 comes under the pressing force of the leaf spring 101. Upon arrival of the cassette 102 at a predetermined position defined by a bent part 100a of the cassette holder 100, the cassette 102 is set in a predetermined position within the holder 100 under the pressing force of the leaf spring 101 as shown in FIG. 5B. After that, the holder 100 is horizontally moved, when necessary, and is then moved vertically downward to a predetermined position within the recording and/or reproducing apparatus. Thus, the loading operation is completed. In taking out the cassette 102, an unloading operation is performed in a manner reverse to the loading operation described.
In inserting the cassette 102, however, the arrangement described above necessitates exertion of a large force against the pressing force of the leaf spring 101. Then, in taking out the cassette 102 from the cassette holder 100, a large force must be also exerted against the pressing force of the leaf spring 101. The cassette 102 thus cannot be smoothly inserted and taken out. Besides, the cassette 102 might be damaged by the unsmooth inserting or extracting operation.
This problem can be solved by weakening the pressing force of the leaf spring 101. However, with the pressing force weakened, the cassette 102 tends to be readily moved within the cassette holder 100 by vibrations or when it comes in contact with other members during the horizontal movement of the cassette holder 100.
The applicant of the present application has previously filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 707,871 (filed Mar. 4, 1985, and entitled "Cassette Loading Device", Uehara) for a novel record bearing medium cassette loading device which is capable of solving the above-stated problems of the prior art devices.
The disclosed loading device for a cassette containing therein a record bearing medium comprises cassette holding means arranged to receive the cassette from a predetermined direction and to be movable in a predetermined direction approximately perpendicular to the receiving direction in a state of holding the cassette, and pull-in means for pulling the cassette into a predetermined position within the holding means, wherein the pull-in means is provided with an engaging member and pulls the cassette into the holding means by engaging the engaging member with a positioning hole provided on the housing of the cassette.